Ubuntu 7.10 Released today

[Edvard]

Because whether you care or not, a lot of people are very excited, and somebody's servers are getting hammered...

http://www.ubuntu.com

The Ubuntu team is excited to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software that the open source and free software communities have to offer. This is Ubuntu 7.10, which brings a host of excellent new features.
  New features since Ubuntu 7.04
        1. GNOME 2.20
        2. Desktop 3D effects
        3. Desktop search
        4. Fast user switching
        5. Firefox plugins in Ubuntu
        6. Dynamic screen configuration
        7. Graphical configuration tool for X
        8. Fully automatic printer installation
        9. Handling of non-free device drivers
        10. NTFS writing
        11. Power consumption
        12. Encrypted hard disks
        13. AppArmor security framework
        14. Additional installation profiles for Ubuntu Server
        15. Profile-based Authentication Configuration
        16. Improved thin-client support

Sounds sweet...

[ljbirns]

And I just got my 7.04 CD last week.

Lew 

[Lashiec]

And I spent three days downloading the Kubuntu 7.04 DVD...

Well, thanks for the upgrading option, I won't have to download the new version

[jgpaiva]

Well, thanks for the upgrading option, I won't have to download the new version

That's probably not such a good idea. Last time i tried that (from 6.10 to 7.04), ubuntu srewed up a bunch of stuff and i ended up having to reinstall it anyways 

[zridling]

Loaded Xubuntu last week and man, it's really solid. I loaded Xubuntu in only 12 minutes! Ubuntu's not my first choice among distros. Boot time is 40 seconds including login. I like Zenwalk and Fedora better, but every six months, I'm using Windows less and less.

Don't you know Ballmer would kill for a 6-month upgrade cycle? Seems a better way to go, make incremental changes and progress twice a year rather than digest a major upgrade every 2-3 years (if you count the Windows Service Packs).

[Armando]

That's probably not such a good idea. Last time i tried that (from 6.10 to 7.04), ubuntu srewed up a bunch of stuff and i ended up having to reinstall it anyways 

Well, this happens mostly if you diverge too much from the original feisty configuration. Normally, if you haven’t been too
naughty with your OS, the upgrade should go pretty smoothly.

That’s not my case though… and I'm pretty sure I'd damage my system if I'd do an upgrade now… because of some special packages I installed to get compiz-fusion working under Feisty on my Inspiron 6400. The price of curiosity.

I wouldn't upgrade anyway without backing up my system -- using partimage or something similar.

[Lashiec]

Fortunately, the distro is not for me, but the bandwidth hit related to the download of a whole new version it is . And probably the task of updating it, too, depending of the host willingness to do things by himself (he was messing with Linux quite a bit before it was ready for desktop... and almost before it had a GUI )

That reminds me... the Linux Distribution Contest was a total failure (lack of time, and lots of Windows XP love )

Careful with Xubuntu (read up to the end of that page)

[Nod5]

I've played around with this for a few days now. It's an incremental improvement over the last version, as usual. I love that they've included the compiz visual effects by default now. I hadn't gotten around to try them before but now I can't get enough of them. I keep switching workspaces for the fun of it!

Come to think of it, I have a hard time distinguishing what are genuine improvements from the last release and what are perceived improvements due to me getting to know the OS better. For instance, I just learned how to make a hotkey to empty the trash can, just like the autohotkey I have for that on XP. But the command line argument I used for that seems to have been available for a very long time - I just discovered it now.

Maybe this is a second good reason for having the biannual Ubuntu release schedule (the first reason being getting objective improvements at a steady pace): it gives those of us who mostly keep trying out and testdriving Ubuntu on secondary machines a way to get used to it in a more engaged manner. For by reinstalling and then out of curiousity looking around for, and reading up on, new features we tend to learn a lot about old features too.

[nontroppo]

Oh, I just hope hardware support is better (non-free device drivers work your magic!)...

[Armando]

Oh, I just hope hardware support is better (non-free device drivers work your magic!)...

IMO hardware support is good for... certain hardware. 
Asking an OS to be compatible with virtually anything on the market is a bit much.
My next laptop will be bought for 100% Linux compatibility. (So will be all my peripherals)

[zridling]

Thanks for the heads up on Xubuntu, Lashiec. I haven't had any of their problems (usually specific laptop hardware), driver support is noticeably better, but I like the Xfce desktop environment a little more than Gnome or KDE. 2010 will be the year everyone looks around and says, "Hey, that Linux crap ain't so bad." I just hope that Vista's successor is as good as XP-SP3 will be.